


Do Vampires feel love?

by Kakashisith



Series: Vampires and feelings [1]
Category: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Genre: Biting, F/M, Jealousy, Long Live Feedback Comment Project, Mild Blood, Minor Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Sex, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-13 20:51:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18038816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kakashisith/pseuds/Kakashisith
Summary: After her husband Jonathan Harker dies, Mina thought, that she could never love someone again. She had some fun with Dorian Gray, but it was nothing serious. But then she saw him...





	1. Chapter 1

Mina Harker stood on the deck of Nautilus, looking at the ocean.   
The ocean breathed, her surface rising and falling with rhythmic ease. The waves became her pulse that day, the echo of the souls she kept safe in her cradle of brine.   
Mina seemed to enjoy the view. She was deep in her thoughts. Last night she woke up to a nightmare, one she`d had since her husband died.   
In her dreams, she was in Dracula`s castle again, but this time all alone. It was dark around her, so dark that she couldn`t see anything. But, she could hear.   
"How do I get here to sleep?"asked Mina, feeling tired.  
A very faliliar voice, Dracula`s voice was somewhere, very near. "Can you hear me? I'm comin'..."  
"Where am I?"asked Mina, trying desperately to see something, anything... But it was dark and foggy around her.   
"Where do you think you are?"came the voice, right behind Mina.  
"In Bed? Please let me sleep!"she begged, hoping, that this nightmare would go away...  
"Beware, cause I'm your nitemare!" then she felt strong hands around her shoulders. Turning her head she saw a pair of red eyes and a pale face.  
"You know it's midnite and the evil appears in the dark... You try to sleep, to scream..."the grip on her shoulders tightened, Mina was paralyzed. "But my terror takes your breath - before you'll make it. I am Dracula and I came to make you mine! There's no light, no way... Nowhere left to run!"  
With this, the nightmare usually ended. But it always was so disturbing, that Mina couldn`t go to sleep again.  
She could remember Dracula`s last words, before he died- "I'm the creature you'll see every night.." Oh and that was so true!

On the other side of the deck Tom Sawyer and Allan Quatermain talked to each other.  
"She`s out of your league,"commented the old man after seeing, how the young red-haired man looked at Mina Harker.   
The younger man said nothing. He sighed deeply. This woman was so beautiful!  
The door to the deck got opened and Dorian Gray came to the deck. He looked around, as if looking for someone. Then he also saw Mina.  
"Mina?" he hurried next to the woman.   
"Don`t flatter yourself, Dorian." Mina snapped. After saying that, she wanted to go back inside the Nautilus.  
Tom Sawyer thought, that it`s perfect time to talk with her. He left Quatermain`s side.  
"Fortune rewards the bold," Tom Sawyer said quietly. Then he stepped in front of the lady.  
"If you require help during the voyage, Mrs. Harker, just let me know,"he smiled.  
Mina Harker stopped for the moment and gazed at the youngster. Tom Sawyer could first time see her eyes properly.   
Her eyes were the glimmering color of emerald, sparkling in the light of the morning sun like a fresh sheen of morning dew. When Mina Harker turned her head, this way and that, they caught the light and played tricks with anything and everything that screamed 'spring.' And when she lifted her pale face to the sky, emerald shifted into the color of deep ocean shimmering in the moonlight.  
"I`m curious how you think you`ll assist me, Agent Sawyer." she said with a little annoyance in her voice.   
"Heavy lifting." Tom Sawyer had a wide grin on his face and opened the heavy door, which led inside the Nautilus. "I am a useful kind of guy." he held the door open for Mina.  
The woman eyed him and finally smiled. "You`re sweet. And you`re young. Neither are traits that I hold on high regard."Then she left, leaving the youngster stunned and ashamed.  
Dorian Gray said no word, just followed Mina.   
"The solar panels are fully charged. We`ll be diving in a moment." It was Captain Nemo, who came just like a ghost out of nowhere. "You both should go inside."  
The Captain closed and locked the doors.

Next morning Captain`s second in command was very worried. Someone had messed with navigation systems.  
"They`re now how I left them, Captain." the older man commented. The old man had long since forgotten what it felt like to have joints that moved freely, without pain. His aches were his constant companions, not friends, but always with him. "That`s all I`m saying."  
Captain Nemo noticed something dust-like on the floor and knelt down. "Powder?" he said quietly, but the older man could still hear the worry in his voice.   
"You think sabotage?" he asked, checking the Captain`s actions. "We ain`t that far off course."

Some hours later, when Allan Quatermain walked in the corridor of Nautilus, he saw a huge door being open. This door had been closed before, but now he could see a weird and huge statue there.   
In front of it stood Captain Nemo, dressed in white, a sword in his hands.   
Out of curiosity, Allan Quatermain stepped closed. The Captain knelt in front of the statue, he didn`t notice anything around him.   
"That`s Kali," came a quiet voice of Mina Harker next to the older man. "Goddess of Death. Nemo worships Death, can we trust him?"   
Mina was watching the Captain, as if she was in trance. But her eyes, there were emotions. Sadness, pain... love?  
"He`s not the one I`m worried about."answered the older man, and went to his room.  
Mina didn`t move, she remained there, watching the Captain`s actions. But she`d been seen. Captain turned around and closed the door quickly. Before closing the door, they shared a look of mutual understanding.  
She sighed and went back to the room spared for her. She was making tests with the weird powder found in the ship, when the door opened.  
"Mina."  
Mina felt annoyed. It was Dorian Gray again, in her room.  
"I`m identifying a powder, that Nemo found,"she explained, holding between tweezers a tiny glass with a fluid inside."Magnesium phosphorus...Photographers use it to create a flash."  
"All the time that Nemo," Dorian was getting angry. "What`s your problem with him?"  
"There is no problem." Mina Harker sounded as cold as ice. "Besides, wasn`t it you, who grew tired of me?"  
Then she put the glass back and turned around. "I was surprised, that you ultimately joined the League. "  
"I mean to undo the flaws in my character."Dorian Gray said, his eyes fixed on Mina. "I want to face my Demons. "  
"And what do you know of Demons?" asked Mina Harker, anger in her tone" I believe, that even Captain Nemo knows more about them, than you..."  
"Do you recall a space on the wall of my home?" Dorian asked with a low voice. "A picture was missing. Although the picture was my portrait... I doubt you`d recognize the face upon it. Every year that passes, my portrait ages, instead of me. "  
"When did you last see it?"  
"I dare not look upon it myself or the magic of the painting would be undone. "  
Then, Dorian Gray left the room.   
Mina Harker felt suddenly bored and alone, so she decided to have a walk inside the Nautilus. Inside the Nautilus was gloom and silencel, Mina checked every room, that was opened.   
Opening another door, she found herself in a huge and confortable room, with a huge organ in the one side of the room. There was also a table with maps, books and pencils on it. A violet sofa and a big bed next to a round window.   
*It must be Captain`s rooms,*thought Mina, but didn`t leave. She saw a painting of a beautiful woman with a child.  
Then Mina noticed a tall figure in the twilight of the room. Captain Nemo was there. He didn`t see Mina.   
Mina Harker inched neared over the carpet, but then a gasp from the Captain stopped her. Mina realized, that he was standing up from his kneeling position.  
"Is somebody here?" he asked. Then he spotted Mina standing in the middle of the room.   
"Um...sorry..."Mina stuttered and her cheeks fell rosy red. "I`ll... go..."  
She was about to leave, when she felt Captain`s hand on her shoulder. "No, you can stay, if you want to. You`ve already seen more than you had to."  
Somehow, Mina thought, the Captain was sexy. And masculine. She wondered, what had she seen in Dorian Gray at all?  
The Captain went to the table and took the bottle of Merlot.   
He poured it to a glass and took a sip of it. Then he poured the wine to another glass and took it into his hand.  
"Nightcap?" he asked.  
"I`m not much of a drinker,"Mina Harker smiled, trying to refuse.  
"Just a small one then."Captain offered her the glass. Mina was about to take it, but broke it by accident.  
"How clumsy of me!" she felt ashamed and her fingers were bloody.  
"We don`t want blood everywhere,"Captain Nemo gave her a silken cloth, to clean her wounds. "Do we?"  
"No." Mina felt sudden hunger and desire building up. They were so close, that their bodies were touching. Mina felt heat rush up to her cheeks. A part of Mina wanted to tell the Captain to run away, the other part tell him to stay. After all, she was a Vampire.  
The Captain didn`t take his eyes off Mina, watching her the whole time, as he ran his hands to her hips, made his way up to her sides, pausing a little at the sides of her breasts, to her shoulders.  
Mina pushed him against the wall, gripped at his robe and flung it open with her long nails revealing his toned body. She pushed his silken shirt and tunic off his shoulders and went straight to the huge leather belt. She was eager and hungry for something real, for a real man.   
"Not blood," whispered Mina, looking at the Captain in front of her.   
"Mina,"asked Captain hesitantly, "are you sure?"  
Mina made a weird sound between a roar and a moan, she was trying not to transform and bite the man. "Yes!"  
Her lips were on Captain`s neck now, kissing and sucking. *No blood,*she reminded herself.* No blood. You don`t want him to die...*  
"Ohh..Mina," he moaned loudly.   
The loud ringing of machinery made both of them jump.  
"We`ve arrived to Venice,"sighed Captain Nemo.  
"We`ll continue, when the mission is done."smiled Mina to him.  
Captain let out a sigh, then went to the machine-room and took the wheel.   
The lingering light was obliterated by the rapidly falling night. The once salmon and purple sky transformed into a vast expanse of jet-black that engulfed the town. A canopy of luminous stars materialized amongst the ocean of blackness. Some were dull, merely flickering into existence every now and then, but there was an adequate amount of shimmering stars to illuminate the dark, moonless night.  
Venice was very quiet, when Nautilus entered it`s channels. Mina Harker stood next the Captain, who leaded his submarine into the depths of the beautiful Venice.  
Then, after a while, the second-in command officer took the wheel over.   
The Captain took his spyglass and looked outside. "It`s the carnival."he said with nervous tone. "My God, we must locate the bomb!"  
The Nautilus went on, until it stopped under a bridge. "We can go no further, Captain."  
"All ahead!" ordered Captain Nemo,"Stop!"  
The machinery was stopped.   
The many doors were open and crew jumped to the bricken street.   
"Deploy the divers behind the city."Allan Quatermain advised.  
"The explosives must be found!" sayd the Captain.  
"Aye, sir!"  
"The city is vast, it could be anywhere." Mina Harker was a bit afraid. She walked next to Tom Sawyer and Allan Quatermain.   
Dorian Gray followed them shortly.  
"What about Skinner?" asked Tow Sawyer.  
"I`d be alert of his treachery."commented Dorian Gray.   
The loud bangs of carnival took everyone`s attention for a moment.  
"Bloody carnival." Captain Nemo wasn`t very happy about it.   
"God, I feared the worst," Mina sighed in relief.   
"It`s all right," assured Tom Savyer, "We still have..."  
Then, another, but different blow was felt and heard. It was strong enough, that everyone lost their balance.   
Quickly, a steward climbed on the watch-tower of Nautilus. "The buildings are falling like dominoes!" he yelled.  
"We`re too late!" said Mina.  
Seeing the houses fall one by one, Allan Quatermain widened his eyes and stepped back. He realized a thing. "There must be more than one bomb."then he turned to the Captain. "Nemo!"  
"The bombs must be at the city`s center. We must take out one key building!"Captain had realized the same thing.  
"Get ahead and destroy the next building!"  
"Interrupt the chain!" commands, nervous voices everywhere.   
"With a beacon at the coordinates, I could launch a rocket and take out the domino." Tom Sawyer had a launcher in his hands.   
"That`s ridiculous!" Dorian Gray didn`t agree with the others this time. "We`d never get there in time! "  
Tom Sawyer run inside the Nautilus.  
"No room for error, but it could work,"said Captain bluntly.  
"What are you talking about?" asked Dorian Gray in disbelief."I`m an immortal, sir, not a gazelle. How can we outrun this?"  
And then there was a sound of something coming out of the submarine. Everyone, except the Catpain, turned their heads.  
It was Tom Sawyer with a car. "Care for a spin?" he cheered.  
Mina Harker, Allan Quatermain jumped in. "Come in, Jekyll, get in!"  
"I`ll need the coordinates."said Mina.  
"Can you track this?" asked Tom Sawyer.  
Captain Nemo went back into his Nautilus, but stayed at the door.  
"Launch when you see the flare." Mina smiled to him.  
"Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

Jekyll didn`t want to get into the car.  
"Hyde will never use me again." he complained, refusing to move.  
"Then what good are you?" asked Dorian Gray, taking his place next to Mina Harker. He had a cocky smile on his face, when the machine took off.  
Looking at the given map, Allan Quatermain told to Tom Sawyer,"Straight ahead, then turn left. "  
"No, no, take a right after the canal ports,"interrupted Mina.  
"We must turn left to get ahead of the.." Allan Quatermain started to argue with Mina. Then shots were fired at them.  
"Snipers!" Tom Sawyer looked at the rooftops.  
Dorian Gray jumped off the car so, that even Mina couldn`t react. The shooting continued, sniperd were everywhere around the trio.  
Mina saw Dorian Gray running behind the pillars.  
"Dorian!" she called.  
"Can`t get a clear shot!" Allan Quatermain tried to shoot the snipers down.  
"Then take the wheel!"  
Now Tom Sawyer begun shooting and hit 2 men down. But it wasn`t enough. Mina Harker grew more and more anxious.  
She felt the urge for food and made her decision quickly. "Save your bullets. These men are mine!" With that, she transformed and flew up, making a hungry growl.  
"Did you see that?" asked Tom Sawyer, not believing, what he just saw."Did you see, what she just did?"  
"Keep your eyes on the bloody road!"  
Mina Harker went up the wall like a huge bat-lady. Actually, there were bats around her, making small noises.  
"The Vampire-lady has us covered!"  
The bats followed the car, not letting the snipers make any shot.  
Then, she re-transformed into her human-form on the nearest roof. The bats around her made some snipers fell down and die instantly.  
Mina attacked another, just biting the victim`s bared neck. She stood up in the air, following the car`s trail with her now red eyes. Blood was dripping from the corners of her lips.  
Another huge house fell down and the people started escaping the carvinal.  
Captain Nemo walked to the deck.  
"The collapse has reached the Carnival. Time is running out. "commented the second officer.  
"The rocket must be ready to launch."  
"Aye, aye, Captain."  
The house right next to the channel to Nautilus collapsed, then another...  
"Come on, Sawyer," Captain took his spyglass and checked at the surroundings.  
"Captain, we must pull out!"  
"No, we stay and do our job!" was the nervous answer.  
While driving between the streets, Allan Quatermain noticed the Phantom. "Remember the flare!" he said, "I`m off!"  
"What?" asked the youngster.  
"Don`t forget, you`re the target."  
Driving between collapsing houses was no easy task.

Inside the Nautilus was total panic.  
"We`ll be smashed apart!"  
"Nemo says we stay, we stay."  
Captain was following his machine with spyglass and smiled. "He`s overtaking the collapse. Be ready to launch!"  
Tom Sawyer hit the flare, to signal.  
He hit the speed and the machine jumped over the channel.  
"Launch!"  
The rocket was off, going to the car`s direction.  
Somehow, with difficulty, Tom Sawyer managed to get out from under the car, which he had managed to turn upside down.  
The chain of bombs was broken. With satisfied smile on his face, Captain Nemo put the spyglass away. "He`s done it."  
No more houses collapsed.

Slowly, Dorian Gray walked into the machine room, which was full of smoke.  
"Mr. Gray?" wondered the machinist."What happened?"  
"Misadventure. Have the others returned?" asked the immortal with cold voice.  
"You`re the first. Hopefully not the last." came the answer. The man was trying to repair some mechanics." That bastard Skinner." he shook his head in anger."A lot to answer for."  
"Skinner? No." Dorian Gray had a cruel smile on his lips.He hid his true self like a snake covered with leaves. There was no indication of evil intent, no hint of self deviant motives. "Me."  
A simple shot was fired and the machinist fell to the floor.  
One shot more, another, another...

Next to Nautilus, everybody gathered.  
Allan Quatermain, covering his shoulder, came accross a small bridge. "The Phantom is M. And the hunt is still on."  
Captain Nemo turned around. "What are you talking about?"  
"The Phantom is M..."he covered his wound with his left hand,"...the very man that recruited us."  
"Let me see the wound,"asked Doctor Jekyll.  
"But how?" asked Captain Nemo in disbelief.  
"We`ll get our answers."then he looked around."Where are the others?"  
Mina Harker came out from the shadows, looking all normal again." Dorian`s missing in action. And mister Skinned must have fled, when he realized we knew."  
"And Sawyer?"  
The red-head youngster walked next to the old hunter, dusty and dirty, but very much alive. "He`ll live to fight another day."  
A noise and weak sound from the Nautilus got everyone`s attention. "Captain..."  
Captain Nemo turned around to see his machinist stagger outside, bleeding. He raised his already blanched hand to his chest before falling to his knees, eyes wide. Before they could reach him he was slumped to the ground, pulse thready and weakening.  
"It was Gray..." he whispered quietly, but already everybody heared him."...not Skinner..."  
Mina`s face went pale, from horror and disbelief.  
"Gray has tricked us all.."the man`s voice grew weaker. He inhaled a trembling breath, sweat accumulating on her skin: icy cold. Then it was over.  
Captain Nemo stood slowly, hands turned to fists. Mina saw a tear running down his cheek, then the man turned around and wanted to move.  
But then, he felt a gentle hand on his neck, stopping him.  
"Don`t..."  
"Don`t what?"  
"Don`t close yourself into this loneliness again..." Mina whispered. "Let me comfort you."  
The look Captain gave to Mina was full of sadness and despair. "I let him down."  
"You did not. You didn`t know, nobody did."  
In silence, they went inside the submarine.

"We need a plan," said Allan Quatermain. "To find M and Dorian."  
"I don`t see the Captain,"wondered Doctor Jekyll.  
On the excact moment, the door opened. Captain Nemo and about ten crewmen came in. Captain was carrying a sword.  
He reached out with his hand to the map on the wall.  
"That is us."the map revealed two points, moving." That is the Nautiloid stolen by mister Gray. We will be upon them soon."  
Mina hurried to him. "You okay?"  
"Just a little shaken,"came the answer, then Captain smiled.  
Captain went to the table and opened a huge paper map. Everybody gathered around him. "This is the plan..."

Later that evening, Captain Nemo was playing his organ with his long, thin fingers. He couldn`t hear the door opening, he was so occupied. That was the way he was dealing with his emotions.  
But it changed in the moment he felt lips pressing against his neck.  
"Mina Harker..."  
Mina took a deep breath as she moved next to the Captain. Their eyes met.  
In the blink of an eye they were both attacking each other, practically eating each other`s lips. Mina moved her hands to his shirt, lifting it over his head. The Captain helped Mina to get out of her velvet dress.  
Mina took a step back, breathing hard. She graved to be touched, loved.  
Captain pushed her against the wall, pushing her bloomers down to the floor.  
"I`ve been thinking about you all day,"Captain`s mouth was against the back of Mina`s neck and he could see her biting her bottom lip to stop her from moaning loud.  
Mina couldn`t do anything but let out a yelp. Captain`s lips were so soft against Mina`s, she even liked his long beard. Mina bit his neck, not to drink blood, but to let the tension out.  
The man hissed and suddenly Mina`s legs were around Captain`s waist and she was against the wall again. Mina moaned out loud, the Captain was so agressive. She liked it.  
Mina needed to breathe, but didn`t want to pull away. She started grinding her bottom against his, making him moan and hiss.  
"Can`t go back..."Mina heard Captain Nemo say and then his head was resting against her breasts.  
Mina licked his lips and her eyes travelled to his neck, where she`d bitten him. It was red and she could see blood glistening in the light. She moved her thumb gently over it to wipe it away, then she looked him in the eyes.  
"I think... that I love you, Captain..."she whispered and then he kissed her. This kiss was slow, not heated, but passionate.  
Mina touched his perfect body slowly, using her fingertips. The smell of fresh blood caused her to tremlbe, almost lose control over her instincts...  
She really wanted to bite his neck, to taste, to feel...  
Her fangs transformed and scrapped his skin. Captain bit his lower lip. What was he expecting? She was a vampire, after all...  
"You`re just all, that I see..."whispered Mina, "the only person alive, who cares..."  
She dug her long nails into the Captain`s back, scratching him.  
"Take me, Nemo.. please.. make me yours..."Mina rasped in a thick lust filled voice.  
"Forever?"  
"Forever,"whispered Mina Harker.  
Captain pushed her onto the huge table, moving his body over hers. He pushed slowly into the vampire-woman, it was both painful and good. He tried to pull back, when he thought he`d hurt Mina, but she tightened her legs around him, not letting him go.  
Slowly he moved in and out, and used his fingers on Mina`s clit. Mina Harker let out a scream, that surely woke up everybody in Nautilus.  
Mina dug her nails into Captain`s back, wanting more. She used her immortal strength to flip them over, so she was on top. Captain`s eyes darkened with lust.  
She begun grinding her hips against the Captain harder and faster. In the same time the man was touching her body all over.  
She was practically screaming, when his long fingers touched her between the legs.  
Captain Nemo took hold on her hips, matching her movement. Her screams could be heard all over the submarine, but she didn`t care. They both were at their peak, panting moaning.  
Mina`s head fell back and she screamed in pleasure, as her whole body went weak. Captain come a bit later, quietly moaning her name.  
The table under them was a total mess, but nobody cared.  
Later Captain Nemo held Mina in his arms, kissing her neck.  
"That was wonderful,"she sighed.  
"Yes love, it was..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Couldn`t resist to make it a three-shot!  
> Bhushan means ornament, decoration.  
> Chetu means Power of Intellect

They lay like this for a long time, then Mina Harker slowly got up.  
"We should catch Dorian..."  
"Indeed..."  
"Does the bite hurt?" Mina was concerned.  
"It itches, but it`s okay... Were you hungry?"  
"It`s in my nature,"apologized Mina Harker, "I`m a Vampire, you know. I speak for the ones, who became Demons, but still learned how to love. The ones who love with more depth, than the Angels above."  
"I see your scars," sighed the Captain, "and still think, that you`re the most wonderful person in the world."  
Mina looked towards Captain Nemo, as if she was judging him.  
"What`s wrong?"  
"I want to tell you something, but I`m not sure, how you`ll accept this..."  
"Look, you can tell me anything. I know, that you are a Vampire." the Captain said, trying to comfort her.  
"Ok, if you can stand the consequences of being immortal..."she said and leaned towards the man, as if to kiss him again. He felt her biting into his neck again. He flinched, when Mina broke the skin, but it felt good, too good. But just after a few minutes she drew away and wiped the fresh blood off her lips. She looked like she horribly regretted, what she had just done.   
"I can`t risk losing you..."Mina whispered.  
"What did you do to me?"  
"Well," Mina Harker hesitated for a moment," there are two ways a Vampire can claim someone he or she loves. By simply sucking their blood we make the victim immortal, but not a vampire. But if we suck blood almost til death and in return give our own blood, we`ve made a new Vampire."  
"I see." Captain slowly got dressed, Mina aswell. "But this didn`t happen to your late husband, Jonathan?"  
"He died shortly after we defeated Dracula." Mina was sad. "Then I met Dorian Gray. He was all fun and attractive, but nothing more than a womanizer..."  
Captain Nemo didn`t know, if he should say something or not. Mina wanted to continue.  
"But then I saw you. You are different. If you personify love even in times of trouble, of hardship or war, then you are truly one of the mighty. I see how no matter the stresses laid upon you, that you show more grace than many do in times of plenty. It is in those moments of pain and fear I see right to your soul and know that my faith in you, my love for you, is eternal.You are brave, kind, always giving of yourself. I want you to know that I will be the same for you; I will be your mirror, bring you what you give others - true love, the lasting kind."  
"You aren`t flattering me?" he asked finally, with dark voice.   
"Not at all." She looked up at him, a tiny smile on her lips."That`s why I said, that I can`t lose you..."  
Captain kissed her forehead, in response Mina hugged him tightly.   
"We should rest. Tomorrow we`ll catch Dorian and my Nautiloid."  
But the door to Captain`s quarters got open and Bhushan, one of the crew, stormed in. "We`re getting a signal!"  
Captain Nemo, instead of getting angry because of this invasion of privacy, followed the man.   
Another man, Chetu, was behind the telephone. "A morse signal," he commented.   
"What`s it say?" asked Allan Quatermain, who arrived quickly.  
"Hello my freaky darlings..."  
"Skinner?" asked Mina Harker.  
"Hiding onboard little fish with Gray and M," Chetu continued,"On way to base, east by northeast. Follow my lead."  
Captain Nemo checked the map, Mina never left his side.

"Good work... all of you," the Captain had summoned everyone into the machine-room. Turning to his second-in-command, he gave a short command. "All ahead, full!"  
Nautilus gained speed, following Skinner`s directions.  
"If Skinner`s headings are correct,"Allan Quatermain checked the map, "we will pass through the treacherous Straits of Tartary and enter the Amur River, which empties out into the frozen lakes of Mongolia, virtually inaccessible to outsiders."  
Those waters were like freezing hell, actually. Nautilus broke the ice from downward and soon the team gathered to watchtower. The ice broke in front of the ship like brittle frosting on a cake. Chunks as big as gravestones were cleaved to each side on the prow in the icy depths.  
"Peasant settlements,"commented Captain Nemo, after checking the area with his spyglass, "They`re all deserted."  
"Why deserted?" asked Tom Sawyer.  
"Fear, no doubt," said Mina quietly.  
This place was rough. In that wasteland of white there was nothing for their minds to hang onto. There was no familiar sight, no sound other than the howling, even the light they needed to warm them was instead blinding and no match for the wind. Only the hearts beating in their chests stopped them from becoming as frozen as the landscape. When Mina whirled around to at least see the tracks they had made, there were none. The only way to navigate was by the sun and in only a few hours it would sink below the horizon, leaving them shivering under the stars. She walked next to Captain Nemo, who took her hand.  
After an hour, they saw a valley and a huge fortress.  
"M`s summer retreat," said Allan Quatermain. "This is where Skinner signaled he`d meet us."  
"So we wait."   
In that frozen place, that ice-world, it was as if the sea had frozen mid-wave, curling upward into the brilliant rays, still rippled from the wind. The wind made talking impossible, howling sharply.   
They found a hidden cave, just like Skinned had pointed out and waited there.   
"What`s going on between them?" asked Tom Sawyer, seeing Mina harker hand-in-hand with Captain Nemo.  
"That`s called love, my young friend," commented Allan Quatermain. "I hope, you`ll feel it too."  
The older man walked out, to have some time alone. Through the thick snow he saw a huge tiger. Allan Quatermain looked into the eyes of this majestic animal. The animal stopped for a moment, made a low roar, then slowly turned around and disappeared.   
"We heard a noise.." Mina Harker stepped outside.  
"It was nothing,"explained Allan Quatermain.  
Captain Nemo managed to see the animal, before it was gone. "Just an old tiger sensing his end." he smiled.   
"Perhaps this was not his time to die after all."  
Mina got spooked by Skinner, who had walked behind her, laughing.   
"Don`t do that, invisible man!"  
"I`ve been waiting all week to do that!" he laughed.  
"Get a grip, man." Captain Nemo stepped between Mina and Skinner.  
"Well, I thought I just did.." to this, he got a slap to the face from Mina Harker. "Oh, you two are together now?"  
"Report!" commanded the Captain.  
"Well, hello you too,"laughed Skinner."And need I remind you, that I am naked in the snow? I can`t feel any of my extremities, and I mean any of them."with that, Skinner walked inside the snowy cave.  
Others followed him shortly.  
"With all the suspicion on the ship I knew you wouldn`t believe that I wasn`t the spy."Skinned sighed, sitting close to the fire. "I thought it was best to disappear."  
"So, what are we dealing with?" asked Allan Quatermain.   
"The fortress is vast. Furnaces produce iron for making M`s weapons of destruction. They`re pieced together on the factory floor by a private army of ruthless men who share his vision. But the worst was to come. In the dry dock, M`s best minds pervert Nemo`s dream. "  
"The Nautilus?" asked the Captain with shocked voice. Mina took a hold on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.  
"The Nautili. There`s eight, for now."  
"What about the kidnapped scientists?" asked Captain Nemo, forcing himself to be at ease.  
"M holds their families hostage. The men work or the women and children die."  
"Monstrous!"  
"The scientists are forced to work night and day and make new versions of us. Invisible spies, an army of Hydes, vampiric assassins. M leaves for Europe today with a sample of the chemicals to sell to the most eager nation. "  
"I`ll not let my evil infect the world."came a silent answer from Doctor Jekyll.  
"Do you think any of us feel differently?"asked Mina, standing behind the Captain.  
"Chimney pipes laced to buildings... and bombs in the furnaces would make quite a bang."Skinner took deep breath and took some clothes, offered by Tom Sawyer. "But someone needs to blow that place to Hell, and I am at least likely to be seen."  
"Skinner," Allan Quatermain stopped him, "I didn`t know that you were such a bare-faced liar. All that time pretending, that you`re not a hero?"  
"Shut up, or I`ll come to my senses. And besides, any more like me and I lose the franchise."  
"Now, let`s go!" odreder Mina, stepping out. "Or I`ll get very angry..."  
"Do Vampires feel anger?"


End file.
